Your caravan is approaching the walls of the nearest human city...

You soon reach the nearest fortified human city. This city is quite large and it is well fortified with high stone walls and a moat with water, over which there is a huge drawbridge. You see high defensive towers on which ballistas and catapults are located. You see archers and crossbowmen walking from above along the city walls...

You also see many city guards who check everyone who wants to enter or leave the city.

Your caravan is approaching the city gates. A squad of city guards is approaching you. The guard commander speaks with merchant Jodaz. Trader Jodaz pays a toll for traveling through the city. And the guards allow your caravan into the city. Your caravan is quite large and therefore it takes a significant amount of time to get through the gate.

While the caravan is passing through the gate, you hear the merchant Jodaz whispering with the dwarf Belknab.

Jodaz says: “You see, Belknab... I was right that last time I inflated the prices for the sale of that batch of iron ore... Otherwise, now I wouldn’t have enough money to pay the duties... Over the last year, duties in this shit city were raised again... Here you have to pay two-part duties: one payment goes to the treasury of the king of Orlania, and the second payment goes to the treasury of the local duke... How tired I am of all this crap..."

You and the rest of the caravan guards go through the gate. You lead rookie guards and you command them to push the carts to speed up the caravan.

On the streets of the city you see many patrols of the city guard, as well as several squads of warriors who are dressed in higher quality steel armor than the usual city guard. Each of these steel-armored warriors wears a black and blue cloak (to be more precise: the cloak is intersected by a diagonal silver line, above the line the color of the cloak is black, and below the line the color of the cloak is blue).

In addition, you noticed the banners that flutter from the towers near the gates. These banners feature a black horse on a dark blue background.

You mentally make a guess: “Probably this symbol is the heraldic emblem of the local feudal ruler...”

Your caravan travels through the dirty streets of the city towards a fortified complex of buildings that belongs to the local merchants' guild. Common people stare at your caravan from the sides of the streets. Some people point their fingers at you... You guessed that now some stupid human woman is telling her little daughter: “Look! This is a terrible orc! He eats only human meat and drinks only human blood! If you don’t listen to mommy, then this orc will come at night, push you into a sack and drag you away with him! And then he will eat you! So listen to mommy!"

You wait for the right moment and you approach Belknab.

You ask the dwarf a question: “What is the name of this large city?”

Belknab grumbles under his breath.

Then he answers you: "This big pile of stones, wood and crap is called the "city of Teinlund"... This large city is the capital of an influential duchy. Those guys in steel armor and black and blue cloaks are the elite guards of the local duke... And if you want to know, smartass, it's shitty for our caravan that this damn city is the capital of the duchy... Because according to the laws of the Sacred Kingdom of Orlania, the dukes have the right to impose additional local taxes and duties... And the local duke is not at all shy about increasing his duty every year levied for the passage of caravans... Because of this, our caravan had to pay a monetary fee much more than last time..."

You listened carefully to the words of the dwarf Belknab.

Meanwhile, you continue to accompany the caravan and you try to keep a vigilant look around so that none of the locals try to steal things from your caravan.

Finally, your caravan reaches a large complex of buildings that belongs to the local trade guild. Trader Jodaz communicates with representatives of the local merchant guild and he obtains permission for your caravan to camp in these buildings.

You, along with the caravan guards and servants, spend a couple of hours getting your carts inside these buildings. You are settling in at the new temporary site for your caravan.

You give commands to the guards who are subordinate to you. You assign the necessary patrols to guard the caravan's belongings. You instruct the new guards to engage in additional training.

After you have done all the most urgent things, you decide to take a little break.

You grabbed some beef jerky from the caravan's food supplies and poured yourself a glass of beer. You sat down on a bench in the courtyard of this building complex and you began to eat and drink.

The dwarf Belknab approached you. He sat on the bench just like you. You see that in one of his hands there is a smoked pork sausage and in his other hand there is a clay pint... Judging by the smell in this pint there is something stronger than beer...

Dwarf Belknab took a large bite of pork sausage and washed it down with his drink... Probably some kind of strong dwarven ale...

Belknab tells you: "I noticed that you are a curious guy, smartass... You often ask questions that demonstrate your curiosity... You may have grown up in a remote forest village and perhaps you do not have extensive knowledge... But you clearly know how to learn.. "Do you want to know about the place where our caravan is supposed to arrive? Do you want to know about the purpose of our journey?"